St Monans entrepreneur Mhairi Peattie has taken an unusual road to opening her own restaurant in the Kingdom’s fabled East Neuk.
With husband Darren, Mhairi, 45, first helped create the East Neuk Salt Co – bringing salt production back to Fife for the first time in more than a century.
Now the one time business studies student – albeit someone who has always had “one foot in the kitchen”– is finalising the menu for a new outdoor restaurant next to the company’s St Monans salt works
And what’s it called?
Sôlt, of course.
“It’s the phonetical pronunciation of salt, with the little circumflex over the o. It does look quite cool,” Mhairi laughs, taking a break from prepping her menu for the big opening in the middle of May.
From west to east coast kitchens
Mhairi first learned to cook from her dad, helping out in the family restaurant The Tea Garden in the port of Mallaig on the west coast. Latterly, she had the head chef gig at the Dory Bistro in nearby Pittenweem before going full time with her family’s salt start up.
But despite her love of cooking, it was the business side of the hospitality that called first.
Spells studying exports, languages and business at Napier University set her up for a job in the wine trade before moving on to a range of other roles.
Although her “heart was always on the chefing side,” she was keen to keep one eye on the bigger picture.
“I was speaking to someone about this the other day. There’s this real thirst for knowledge. I always wanted to know how everything worked.”
Following on from the East Neuk Salt Co’s series of supper clubs and take away nights, outdoor restaurant Sôlt marks their move into a more permanent, bespoke space for 36 diners.
East Neuk restaurant Sôlt promises ‘chilled out vibe’
So what can visitors expect?
“We want to build this lovely area outside, which lets people sit outside in a garden environment and really enjoy local produce.”
Mhairi mentions she has plans to launch with an open mic night.
“People who are going to be attracted to Sôlt are those who like good food. They’ve experienced our food at other events so they know the style of food we’re doing.
“There’s been a vibrant music scene in the East Neuk for quite a while and we’ve dipped our toe into that and found that our customers really like it. It’s going to be a very chilled out vibe.”
Sôlt will source the majority of its fare from less than a mile away. Think Pittenweem shellfish and squid, East Neuk Market Garden fruit and veg, meat from Crail’s JB Penman butchers or game picked up from local estates.
But local doesn’t mean without surprises, of course, Mhairi is already planning a novel entry on the starters list – nettle soup.
“There’s going to be nettle soup on there for sure. I like a bit of foraging, nature’s bounty. The things we get before anything is growing in the garden.”
What’s on the menu?
Mhairi is planning a three starter, three main and three desert plus specials split.That is also likely to include a few familiar dishes too, for example lobster thermidor.
“It’ll be changing menu. It will be what is coming out the ground that week. It is what has come off the boats that week,” she says.
“They’ll be things going on the specials board like razor clams, Queen scallops. And when the mackerel starts running off the Isle of May, I’ll be getting the mackerel too.”
She will season some of the dishes with her company’s own brand of flavoured salts. They include wild garlic, oak smoked, lime smoked and a smoked chilli salt.
“I’ve really started to experiment with the flavours that smoking brings. We all know salt makes things taste better, but when you start to smoke that salt, it really adds a depth.
“There was a mantra in the restaurant – everything tastes better with smoked salt.”
Mhairi will be hoping the same mantra will have the diners flocking in when the Sôlt opens its doors for the first time in May.
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